President puts hold on military action

President Obama said in his speech Tuesday night that he has asked Congress to postpone a vote to authorize force against Syria.

Obama said the recent deal crafted by Russian President Vladimir Putin “has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force.”

Russia’s plan to avoid military intervention, which it unveiled Monday, involves the surrender of Syria’s chemical weapons to United Nations officials, Obama said. The weapons would then be destroyed by the international community.

“I have resisted calls for military action because we cannot resolve someone else’s civil war through force,” Obama said.

The president said that any military action that may result if Syria fails to surrender its chemical weapons would not be an open-ended action or a prolonged air campaign.

“I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria,” Obama said. “[A military action] would be a targeted strike to achieve a clear objective.”

The president said it is clear Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime was responsible for the chemical weapons attacks carried out against several Syrian neighborhoods on Aug. 21, killing at least 1,000 people. Several of those killed were women and children.

Syria accepted Russia’s plan Tuesday Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Syria accepted the plan to “uproot U.S. aggression,” according to the Associated Press.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Syria will be ready soon to finalize the plan with the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Secretary of State John Kerry will go to Switzerland to meet with Lavrov on Thursday to reach a deal on the UN’s resolution, the Associated Press reports.

Experts believe Syria has 1,000 tons of chemical agents scattered over several sights, according to the Associated Press, making the location and destruction of those weapons difficult at best. The operation is further hindered by the fact that Syria has been engaged in civil war for two years.

The president said he is skeptical that the Syrian regime would follow through with its commitment to destroy its weapons.

“I’ve ordered our military to maintain their current posture, to keep the pressure on Assad and to respond if diplomacy fails,” Obama said.

The Syrian government has typically accepted last-minute international deals then later argued over details, dragging negotiations out for several weeks or months, according to the Associated Press.

The White House has issued a statement blaming Syrian President Bashar Assad for the chemical attack which has been signed by 33 countries. The statement does not explicitly call for military action although it does condemn Assad for the chemical attack.

However, President Obama said America must do something to show the world that use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated.

“A failure to stand against the use of chemical weapons would weaken prohibitions against other weapons of mass destruction,” Obama said.

President Obama said it is the United States’ duty to stand up for ideals and principles.

“America is not the world’s police. Terrible things happen across the globe, it is beyond our means to right every wrong,” Obama said. “What kind of world will we live in if the United States of America sees a dictator brazenly violate international law with poison gas and we choose to look the other way?”